re: Progressives have a new minimum wage goal: $20 and up

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Well the logic that people working minimum wage are underpaid also leads you to almost everyone being underpaid if you follow that logic to its conclusion.

You can train a guy on a fast food position in a day. He won't be great at it for a while, but he can do it well enough that the place isn't at risk of shutting down while hes on the clock. If someone you can replace with literally anyone off the street makes $20 an hour, a medical coder or something making $20 an hour currently in theory should get a raise because they are bringing skills to the table. Would they in practice get a raise? Probably not. And if they did it wouldn't be a $7.25 to $20 type raise.

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The feels of the coder has nothing to do with the economics of hiring an employee. The cost for a basic existence is the same for the burger flipper as the coder in a given location. The coder may be able to make their nut on $20 an hour and 40 hours a week. If that is all they are doing then the minimum wage worker at $7.25 is going to be a burden on taxpayers through the dole or crime while the employer reaps the benefit. WHy we do not insist on employers footing the true and full cost of their production is beyond me but I suspect it has something to do with employers having the time and money to see to it that the taxpayer takes up the slack so they can pocket more of the revenue.